We Remain
by Achilles1011
Summary: At the end of "In Memoriam" we see Lauren get her memories back. Instead of getting a hold of Dyson she manages to get a hold of Kenzi. That one small moment changes everything. Bo has saved her so many times, it's time for her to return the favour. It's Lauren's turn to save Bo. AU after 4x01.
1. Standing Up Again is The First Step

A brunette sitting on an examination table. She runs her hands down her back. "You're beautiful." She aloud murmurs to herself.

A look of confusion flashes across Lauren's face. Where had this memory come from? Who was the beautiful brunette on her examination table?

* * *

"Nobody own you." What? The voice, it sounded to familiar. A memory flashed through her mind. The same brunette staring up at her holding her slave pendent in her hand. A tug, the necklace was pulled away and thrown on the floor. What was the look in the brunette's eyes? It spoke of fondness of lust… no there was something more there, love. She was overwhelmed by the feelings for the person in front of her, a rush of arousal, of lust, of love.

* * *

Who was this woman?

* * *

Another flash of memory the same pendant pulled off her neck and thrown back at her. "Go back to your master."

"Bo! Wait, just let me…" She yelled after the brunette as she left the room. She could feel herself tearing up and collapsing back onto the bed. What had she done?

* * *

"Bo." She hear herself saying aloud starting to choke up as memories began to return to her.

The kiss before Bo went to face her mother. Fleeing from Lachlan, hiding out in Bo's home. The sexual tension that started to develop between them, the day the tension exploded. Getting threatened to return to compound.

The adventure with the Lich, seeing Bo become dark in order to save her from those who were threatening her life after she was threatened, she had resided herself to die that day. But she had been saved.

* * *

The time she had seen Bo so vulnerable, so scared looking. She had looked so lost so vulnerable. She had been hating herself, said she had forgotten that to humans she was a monster. The overwhelming urge she'd had to comfort the woman in front of her, remind her that she was not a monster, that she was a beautiful person who was so loved.

A hand out to rest on her cheek. "The person you are now I absolutely love!"

She had told the brunette that she loved her for the first time that day.

* * *

Bo killing Nadia, the devastation that she had felt at seeing her one tie to her old life, a person she loved, being killed by the woman she was in love with. The irrational anger and fear she had felt. The grief she had been unable to express.

Coming to Bo some nights later, asking for sex so that she could just forget what had happened. Realizing that she was safe, the sudden overwhelming exhaustion, the need to sleep.

"Whatever happens we are in this together." She had been told while resting on Bo's chest. She had nodded and fallen asleep soon after. Feeling safe for the first time in years.

* * *

Another slew of memories, both happy and sad. The aborted "I love you". Telling Bo to be what they needed. Nearly loosing her again.

Lauren could feel herself sitting down, the emotions she connected to the memories starting to overwhelm her. Her hands coming together.

* * *

Hecuba, Bo standing there in the hot pink prison jumpsuit.

"I want to give us a real shot. Be together." The disbelief that went through her.

"Really?" She had felt so sure that her mind was playing tricks on her. After everything that had happened was something good finally happening in her life?

She saw Bo smile. Lauren reached out and smashed their lips together, overwhelmed by happiness and disbelief. Had she finally gotten the girl? Her, the human lover had gotten the girl?!

* * *

Yes. She had. She had not felt this kind of happiness coursing through her in a long time.

* * *

Another memory. Trying to keep up with Bo, making sure that she remained healthy enough, they hadn't talked about it but Lauren knew that Bo wasn't feeding from others. She felt happy, she was the only one the succubus wanted.

Finding out Bo had cheated on her with Dyson. The mixture of emotions, jealousy, sadness, anger, rage. She had been deluding herself, thinking that she would be enough for the succubus. Was it cheating when it was necessary for her girlfriend to be healthy? The realization that she would never be enough for Bo. The injections weren't working. Bo's appetite had been increasing, it had been harder to keep up.

Bo reaching out to try and talk to her. Her pulling away.

The promise that there had been no feelings on either side. She loved the succubus to much, she couldn't let her go. She surged forward and kissed her. They needed to talk, they needed to set rules. You have to be okay with this, you have to be okay with this.

"I love you."

The brunette smiling back at her. "I love you too."

* * *

More memories, the party. Bo loosing control, bringing her back. Something was wrong with her love. Something was seriously wrong.

Nadia, Nadia. A repeat with Nadia. She was scared of loosing another girlfriend to a monster she couldn't control

* * *

The discovery of the dawning, the subsequent developments. Being ignored, trying to support her girlfriend. Starting to loose herself. Bo taking her Chi for the first time, the opposite of how she'd pictured it. Not an intimate experience, just her and Bo, but to so Bo could save the life of Dyson, the person who could easily steal Bo from her.

* * *

Realizing she wasn't happy. Nearly getting beaten up, Bo coming to save her. Being so relieved to see her. It taking everything in her to not fall into her arms and start to sob. Not asking Bo to take care of her, she just wanted to be taken care of for once. To allow herself to lean back and know her girlfriend would catch her. Everything ached, she just wanted to be with Bo, her warmth and comfort.

She couldn't allow herself to be. She needed to look after herself, she couldn't keep getting hurt. She had Bo stop. She asked for a break. Was it really a break? When Bo had asked her she hadn't known the answer.

* * *

The last time she'd seen Bo. Her relief at seeing her girlfriend, only to realize that she wasn't there for Lauren. She had come to rescue Dyson. Taft was looking at her, Bo was looking at her. Spiteful, hateful words. Words she didn't mean.

Bo looking at her, telling her. "I know you and I love you." She wanted to run forward and hug her, kiss her. She wanted to do so many things, but she couldn't she had to get them out of the situation. She had to rescue these Fae, take down Taft. Protect the world that had enslaved her because the person she loved the most in the world was a part of it.

* * *

Lauren let out a small gasp of air. Tears were gathering at the corner of her eyes. So many feelings were surging through her as the memories returned. Warmth, happiness, comfort. Sadness, grief, anger, hurt. The most overwhelming emotion was love. She loved this person, she loved this person so much. She loved Bo.

"Bo. I remember." She remembered everything. Every happy moment, every sad moment, and everything in between. How could she have forgotten?

* * *

A sudden surge of power passing through her. She saw a flash of blue in her mind, a dark void, and a train. The only time she'd ever seen that shade of blue was in Bo's eyes. An old fashion train, the only source of light in a dark void. Where?

* * *

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Lauren could feel emotions surging through her. She could sense something was wrong. How had she forgotten? How had she forgotten one of the most important people in her life?

She felt a creeping sense of loneliness. She was out in a diner in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. The one person she wanted to talk to about what she was feeling was not around. She felt dizzy and overwhelmed with feelings.

Lauren took a deep breath and blinked back the tears in her eyes. She couldn't loose her composure here, she couldn't let anyone know that something was wrong. When she got back to the place she was staying she could cry, she could be lonely. Then she would figure out what happened. Then she could figure out what to do next.

Standing up Lauren began to clear the table. Everything felt wrong, everything felt so confusing and she had so many emotions to process, so many memories to sort through. Right now she knew that something bad must have happened, memories were not erased and replaced with false ones for no reason. Someone was trying to hide something, or someone. Bo. Memories of the people she loved were erased so that they wouldn't go looking for her. Was she still in danger? Or was she safe now that the memories had returned. How could she not have noticed that there were things in her false memories that made little sense?

How had she not noticed the missing succubus?

Wait the brunette that sometimes appeared in the corner of her eye, but when she turned her head she was never there. It had been Bo. Little things that reminded her of Bo. A scent, the way someone laughed, caused a flicker of a brunette in the corner of her eye. But when she turned around no one was there. More significant moments when a brunette appeared to be staring at her from a seat in the dinner or in the place she was staying, on her bed, when Lauren blinked she was gone. It hadn't been a hallucination. Her subconscious had been connecting small actions to her memories of Bo.

The other waitress… Crystal? When she looked at her with lust in her eyes she had thought she saw a brunette in her place for a moment. She had brushed it off as a trick of the light, but no. It had been something that reminded her subconscious of Bo. Oh God.

Lauren took another shuddering breath. She finished gathering the dishes on the table and picked them up, starting to walk back across the diner. What does she do now? Lauren felt desperate to return. To see if Bo was all right, she missed her friends and her home. She couldn't go back. She was stuck here, hiding, more then likely still wanted.

She needed information she needed to call someone. She looked over in the corner and caught sight of the pay phone. Kenzi. She could try calling Kenzi. The person closest to Bo would most likely know what was happening. Lauren glanced over at the clock. It was fairly late in the evening, but maybe. When did Kenzi usually go to sleep?

Lauren wracked her brain attempting to remember the times she slept over at Bo and Kenzi's home. Not until later then the time on the clock was all Lauren could come up with. She sighed and lifted the receiver, fishing around in her apron for two quarters. Pulling out the required change she inserted it into the phone and dialed Kenzi's cellphone. She heard it begin to ring on the other end, Lauren sighed in relief; at least the call had gone through.

As the rings continued Lauren began to worry, was Kenzi not picking up because she had forgotten her phone? Was it because she was ignoring the call? Had she gotten the number wrong?

Just as Lauren was about to hang up she heard a voice on the other end.

"Bo?" She recognized the voice. It was Kenzi. A little whoop of joy. She had gotten the number right. The immediate answer of Bo. Lauren frowned The fact that she was asking for Bo confirmed a secondary hypothesis. Bo was missing. Someone had taken her, most likely.

"No Kenzi. I'm sorry. It's me." She heard a small gasp on the other end of the phone before hearing a short relieved laugh.

"Hi Doc." Kenzi's tone turned serious. "Are you okay? I know we weren't always the best of friends but… I'm glad to here from you."

"I'm scared. I'm worried. I'm so desperate for a familiar face right now that I actually miss you."

She heard Kenzi laugh a little on the other end. "I know the feeling Doc. You must have gotten your memories back if your calling."

She had forgotten how perceptive Kenzi could be sometimes, and how reassuring she could be when they weren't fighting. Although it was such a strange time right now.

"Yes. I was originally calling to check on Bo but…" Lauren took a shuddering breath. The moment she said it aloud it would become reality "Bo's gone missing hasn't she."

There was silence on the other end on the phone for a moment before a short sad reply of "Yeah." Lauren could hear Kenzi's shuddering breath on the other side of the phone. "She's gone missing, no one knows how long she's been gone, who could have taken her."

Lauren took a deep breath, trying to keep her tone neutral. "I'm coming home."

"That's seriously not a good idea Doc. There are some mega bad Fae in town right now. And they're still after you, they're after me." Lauren sighed. Doing what was right for them all and staying on the run or doing what she wants and coming back?

"Kenzi _my girlfriend_ is missing. Do you expect me to take this laying down?" The word girlfriend slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. Had she never stopped thinking of Bo as her girlfriend? Lauren sighed and shook her head a small smile tugging at her lips. She was so hopelessly in love with the other woman. It was kind of sad and pathetic, but that's what love was sometimes. A stupidly blind emotion.

Lauren sighed, her mind was already made up apparently. Her decision…It was an incredibly stupid and impulsive decision, but she couldn't standby and leave everything to Kenzi and Dyson. It was time for Lauren Lewis to start reclaiming herself, and a part of that meant becoming proactive instead of reactive. It meant starting to stand up for what she wanted and needed to do. One of the things she needed to do was help rescue her lover.

She heard Kenzi sigh on the other end of the phone. "For a smart doctor that's an incredibly stupid decision. But I understand, my bestie's missing and it makes my heart ache, I miss her so much."

"I know, Kenzi, I know. But I can take care of myself, I did it for years before Bo and the Fae. It's time I start doing that again. But I also need to come home. I can't leave things the way I they were left at Taft's lab." It really was time she started to take care of herself again. Unfortunately part of taking care of herself meant she needed to put herself into danger. Lauren sighed and looked down at her hand flexing it. An image of that hand with a gun in it appeared in her mind.

It was time for her to become herself again. Not the passive meek scientist she had become at some point in the past few years. But to become the army doctor she once had been, the person who had fought in Afghanistan. The person who had joined MSF and gone to the Congo to help people, dragging her girlfriend along with her. She could fight; Bo needed to be saved this time. Bo had saved her so many times, in more then one-way. It was time for the favour to be repaid, even if it was the last thing she did before she ran.

Lauren took a deep breath. "I'll be back soon Kenzi. I promise. It's time for us to repay Bo for all the times she has saved us."

She could hear something that sounded like a smile in Kenzi's voice. "I'll see you soon Doc. Just promise me you'll take care of yourself. If something happened to you before we found Bo. I don't think we'd ever get her back."

Lauren nodded to herself before good-byes were exchanged. Lauren looked around the diner one last time before she headed for the door and walked out.

It was time for her to reclaim her life and make her own choices. The first step would be returning home and trying to find her missing lover.

Lauren sighed to herself before muttering out loud. "Let's just hope that this doesn't turn into a suicide mission.

Without looking back Lauren left the diner and started to walk down the road back to the place she had called home. Back to the woman she loved. Back to the dangerous life she had thought she had left behind. Back to the world she had never wanted to see again.


	2. Starting To Walk Again Is Painful

Lauren looked around at the dilapidated building that Kenzi and Bo had called home. Her feet ached and she was exhausted, she had been walking on and off for two days in order to get here. Thankfully the small town she had been staying in was not far from the city, she had walked from the lab to there to begin with.

Lauren sighed and smiled a little, it was good to see the familiar building if nothing else. Looking around to ensure that no one was approaching the building she quickly dashed forward and around the side of the building, keeping out of view of the main road. Peaking around the side of the house she didn't notice any visible signs of other people, it being night more then likely helped.

Lauren took a deep breath and approached the door, she quickly pressed on it lightly only to have it open. Had Kenzi left it open on purpose? Or did the door just never lock properly to begin with?

Lauren sighed and quickly slipped in through the entrance, closing the door behind her. Looking around she felt a wave of relief to see that not much had changed, there were still exposed wall studs, there was still a draft coming through the walls. The mix and match furniture, the out of place modern television. Lauren felt herself smiling slightly at the familiar feelings that washed over her. This place had memories both fond and not, but it had always been a place of safety for her.

Lauren looked around before catching movement out of the corner of her eye. Lauren turned in the direction of the attacker; she looked around and noticed that the candleholder nearby, just as she was about to reach it she saw who was about to attack her. It was Kenzi with a sword.

Lauren immediately relaxed and smiled slightly. "It's me Kenzi."

She heard the sword clatter to the ground before she saw a blur of raven hair dash towards her and envelop her in a hug. Lauren smiled slightly before returning the hug. What had caused Kenzi to react like this?

A few seconds later she felt Kenzi pull back an awkward smile on her face, arms up and stiff like she had realized what she had done. She saw Kenzi take a deep breath before looking at her and smiling a little.

"Hi Doc. It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you to Kenz."

She saw Kenzi look at her for a minute before she got an incredibly serious look on her face. "What happened to your hair?"

Lauren sighed. Of course Kenzi would notice her hair all of things. "It's a wig Kenzi."

"Oh thank god. That's one nasty hair colour for you, nasty hair style to, you look horrible with pseudo bangs." Lauren stared at Kenzi for a moment. Was the younger woman seriously worried about her hairstyle and colour at a time like this? Then Lauren realized something, Kenzi in her own way was trying to be welcoming, letting Lauren know that the younger woman was glad to see her. It was good-natured teasing

Lauren smiled a little and looked over at the younger woman, examining her for the first time. She looked horrible, her eyes were bloodshot, and there were bags under her eyes. The way she carried herself suggested fatigue, her body language was tense and the expression on her face appeared to default to worried.

"We'll find her Kenzi. I know that I'm not exactly the best person for this. That I am just be considered the weak human who would get in the way but I need to be here. I need to help with this. So do you." Lauren took a deep breath. "Did you tell anyone else that I decided to come back?"

Lauren saw Kenzi slowly shake her head. "I considered telling the D-man or Hale but… I think they would have told you to go back. They wouldn't have let you help and they wouldn't have let me help either. I need to find her Lauren, I can't just sit back and let other people do this…"

"She's your best friend." Lauren said with a smile

"And you love her." Kenzi finished with a smile on her face.

She saw Kenzi extend her hand. "Team human?" Lauren thought about it for a moment. She would need help, she would need someone who could at least partially move through the world without risking death each time she left the house.

Lauren nodded and smiled back at her taking Kenzi's offered hand. "Team human."

"Don't take this as meaning that I like you just yet Doc. But it's a start." Lauren nodded.

"I know Kenzi. I know. But we can start arguing and yelling at each other again when Bo is back with us, safe and sound."

A wave of exhaustion suddenly overcame her Lauren stumbled back slightly. She could see Kenzi coming over and grabbing her by the waist. "God Doc what have you been doing to yourself?"

She had been ignoring many of her needs for the past two days, trying to get home, or to the closest place to home that she could get. When had the crack shack become home?

The moment it had become the safe place she could go to, regardless of the time or day. The moment she associated it with a refuge from her daily life. The moment the person who she now connected most with the word and feeling of home began living here. Lauren sighed, when had Bo become so important in her life?

Lauren glanced over at Kenzi and smiled lightly. "I'm okay, I just haven't slept a whole lot in the last two days. I needed to get back here. The closer I got, the more dangerous it got for me to stop moving to get anything more rest then what a small break to eat or drink something could afford me."

She saw Kenzi smile and shake her head. "You need to take care of yourself better Doc."

Lauren sighed and nodded at Kenzi. "I know. I intend to start, it's just that by the time I realized what I had chosen to do I was already several kilometers out of town, and I had only briefly stopped at the place I was staying to gather some clothing and other supplies that I would need." Lauren said gesturing to the backpack strapped to her back.

"You know where Bo's bed is Doc. Go catch some zzz's, you look like something out of a horror movie, and I'm not talking about the pretty blonde. Ditch the wig too, I'm sure you can borrow something better from me."

Lauren smiled tiredly and nodded at Kenzi. She would be of no use to anyone tired on her feet. She started to walk towards the stairs, just before she started to climb she looked back and smiled at Kenzi. "Thank-you Kenzi, for answer my call. If you hadn't picked up I don't know where I would be right now." She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Make sure you get a good nights rest, tomorrow morning we start searching and I can't promise that it will be an easy journey or even a pleasant one."

She saw Kenzi smile a little. "You're different now. I've never seen you this take charge before, it's kinda badass."

"Goodnight Kenzi. I'll see you in the morning." Lauren saw Kenzi smile and nod before she turned around and headed up the stairs. As she climbed Lauren found herself becoming lost in thought. How many times had she climbed these stairs in the heat of passions? How many times had Bo carried up her them?

Lauren shook her head, dwelling on the past with her lover would not change anything. She should not give up yet; whoever wanted Bo more then likely wanted her alive. As Lauren reached the top of the stairs and rounded the corner she caught sight of Bo's bedroom door, it was half open, just like it had been so many times before when she had come to sleep over.

As she entered she almost expected to see Bo sitting on the bed waiting for her or for her to be curled on her side, reaching her arm out across the bed as if she was holding someone. But no, the room was empty, the bed standing unoccupied, neatly made when the sheets were usually messily tucked in, if the bed was made at all. Where there were usually at least some cloths littering the ground it was clean. On the nightstand where Bo usually placed her cellphone and whatever magazine she was reading at the time, it stood filled with candy. The nightstand that had essentially become hers, usually stacked with textbooks on Fae physiology and various other tombs it was occupied with other… essentials. But other then those things the room looked too clean. It looked unlived in. It was like it held no trace of its previous occupant, instead it looked like a shrine.

That was the moment that it sunk in that Bo was truly gone. That she was missing, she was not in this room with Lauren. She was not going to come out of the bathroom wrapped in a kimono or walk through the door behind her and grab her by the waist with a smile on her face. She was really and truly gone As Lauren inhaled she caught a the faintest traces of a familiar scent, of Bo's perfume.

Lauren could feel tears starting to build in the corners of her eyes. She wanted to reach out and hug the occupant of this room, to assure herself that the person she had known had been real but she could not. Lauren took a deep shuddering breath and blinked back her tears. She couldn't loose control right now, she needed to find Bo. She would protect her lover just as she had protected Lauren so many times before.

With another breath Lauren walked fully into the room, closing the door behind her. She needed a shower and then she needed to get some sleep, she had been up for two days for all intents and purposes. When she woke up she would eat a good breakfast and drink as much fluid as she needed to, and then she would start her search to find her lover.

She needed to acquire a gun Lauren noted absent-mindedly. As much as she detested using the weapon it was the only one she had any training with, and she could not be a damsel in distress anymore. This was more then likely going to have to be a Kenzi and her only type mission, no Fae, it would be far too risky.

Meaning that the weak humans would have to defend themselves from the attackers. Lauren smiled a little, it would be interesting, she hadn't used many of the moves she had learned in the army in years. Lauren frowned a little, she had kept herself fit over the years, but would the muscle she had be enough?

Lauren shook her head and began to undress as she moved towards the bathroom connected to Bo's bedroom. She could worry about the specifics of combat as it came up, there was more then one way to fight an opponent, and she'd had extensive training in both physical fighting as well as more _improvised_ uses of her knowledge.

As Lauren finished undressing, she reached out to turn on the shower, smiling a little at some of the memories that came back to her. It was only a small comfort but being here reminded her a little of some of the smaller moments between her and Bo. The first time they had shared a shower. Lauren had to laugh a little at the memory, they had nearly brought the rod holding the shower curtain crashing down to the floor. They had spent a minute bickering over whose fault it was before bursting into laughter.

Lauren reached her hand out to test the temperature of the water, finding it warm enough she stepped under it. They would have more memories like that Lauren promised herself, this was not the end of something, but another step in the journey they were taking together. One that hopefully didn't end with either of them dead at the end of it.

Lauren groaned and turned over trying to get away from the sun which had woken her up, automatically she reached out her arm for the warm body that should be next to her own, instead she was meet with only cold sheets. Lauren felt herself frowning for a moment; Bo hated getting up this early. If the sun was only shinning in her eyes now then it wouldn't be shinning onto Bo's side of the bed for another little while…

* * *

Lauren blinked open her eyes. Instead of being greeted with the sight of brown hair fanned out across the other pillow or her lover's face, she was greeted with the other side of Bo's bed. On the nightstand was an assorted selection of Bo's favourite foods. Lauren sighed and sat up, so it hadn't been an awful dream. Bo really, truly was gone. Lauren shook her head, it had been a little bit of wishful thinking on her part, a momentary weakness that she had indulged.

Lauren sighed and pulled the blankets away and stood up allowing herself to stretch. Everything ached, she had pushed her body to limit over the last few days, but she couldn't let that stop her. Lauren walked into the bathroom and over to the medicine cabinet, as she pulled back the door she noticed the ibuprofen that she had left on one of her many overnight visits.

She smiled and pulled the bottle out before opening the cap and swallowing two of them dry. Lauren sighed and putting the bottle back into the cabinet. She could hear banging coming from down the hall, she assumed that it meant Kenzi was awake. Lauren sighed and walked back into the bedroom. She walked to the side of the wall where she had put down her backpack the night before.

As she dug around she began to pull out clothing that she hadn't worn in a long down. A button down shirt, a tank-top to go underneath it, a pair of jeans, a leather jacket. Clothing that was practical and easy to move around in. Lauren sighed as she pulled of her borrowed T-shirt and began to pull the clothing on. When she was finished she turned around and looked at herself in the mirror.

Looking back at her was a person she hardly recognized anymore. She looked like she had when she was younger, when she was still in the military, when she had joined MSF. Lauren felt herself standing a little taller, pulling her shoulders back slightly more. She smiled a little. It felt good. She was no longer just a scientist hiding in a lab at the beck and call of the Fae, she had a person to protect, something that she chose to do. Things she hadn't had in a long time.

Lauren smiled to herself a little before she left the room, stopping for a moment to put on her hiking shoes. Lauren frowned, she must have been so tired she had walked up the stairs with them on without realizing it. Thankfully it wasn't winter so she didn't have to worry about tracking snow in.

As she descended the stairs she heard could hear someone banging around in the kitchen. Lauren frowned, if she remembered correctly Kenzi's cooking was inedible at best. Lauren could smell something it smelt like burning. Lauren rushed into the kitchen. Only to see Kenzi coughing as a pot began to smoke.

She could see Kenzi reaching out to slap the lid down on the pot, reaching out to turn the heat down.

"Kenzi!" Lauren called out as she rushed forward.

She could see Kenzi turning around with a sheepish look on her face. "Morning Doc."

"Kenzi, what…"

"I was trying to cook you breakfast?" Lauren stared at Kenzi for a moment. "I… I was trying to distract myself. I just feel to useless. I'm so worried about Bo. I mean we don't even know where to start. We don't even know who took her! Let alone where she could be. We're only human Lauren. What use can we really be?"

"Team human remember? Kenzi we may be human, we are weak compared to the Fae, but that does not _make_ us weak. We are the creatures who fight against a world designed to kill us. We have adapted and changed with time, we create to help us survive. We threaten, we fight, we love, we _change the world around us_. Fae do not adapt, they do not change, Fae do not fear except other Fae. We are stupid, but because we are stupid we do brave things. We are creative, unpredictable, we manipulate the world around us. We play, we learn, we grow, we advance, we are resilient. That is what makes us strong.

"Bo was raised in the same world as us. Bo is just as human as we are in her beliefs and values. She is strong like a Fae, but she doesn't think like one. Does she think we're weak? No. She thinks we are strong. So even if the rest of the world looks down on us. Even if almost no one else believes in us, there is one person who does. And she is counting on us. Because this time. This time Bo can't save herself. So its time for the weak humans to come to the rescue because I will be damned if I let Dyson save my girlfriend."

Lauren was panting as she finished her little speech. Where had that come from? Lauren shrugged a little internally. She had no idea. When she had heard Kenzi question if they could be of any use she had snapped. No she knew where it came from, she was tired of being called inferior, of being called weak. She was tired of Fae and their humans are weak bullshit.

"Uuum. Lauren. Where did that come from?"

"I guess I'm just so tired of being told I can't do something because I'm human. Did it help at all?"

Lauren saw Kenzi smile weakly before nodding. "Yeah."

"All right then. Let's try and find a place to start." Lauren said as was walking out of the kitchen when she tripped over a container. As she landed on the ground Lauren saw what looked like a playing card spill out of the milk crate.

"Kenzi..." She was about to call out but then she turned over the tarot card. It was inscribed with XIII: The Wanderer

On it was two images, on of them of a man holding a walking stick. The other of a very familiar woman. It was Bo.


	3. A Foot In The Air Doesn't Mean I Fall

Lauren stared at the card in her hand bringing it up closer to her face as she sat up on the ground. What could this mean? Was Bo in the card?

Oh god. Lauren felt herself take a deep shuddering breath. Her lover may not even be in this plain of reality. What was the implication of this? What did it mean for them? For their ability to track her down. Breathe Lauren. It's going to be okay, this will just be a much more complex situation then you initially thought.

"Lauren? What." Lauren silently handed Kenzi the card. She heard a gasp, the woman had noticed the same thing that she had.

"What's the funky lettering in the upper right corner?"

"What does it say?"

"MMXV." MMXV. What could that be? MMXV, sounded like roman numerals. But what did they mean? Lauren racked her brain attempting to remember what the numerals meant. She could recall that XV meant fifteen, but what was the MM in front of them. M was 1000, another M meant another thousand. Two thousand. Could it be 2015. A year, a time, a date?

So it could mean the year 2015. It could mean October 5, 20 something, although what century to put in front of that it would be hard to guess. 2020 would be the safest bet. It could also mean May 10, 2020.

Or it could be the time 20:15. Although it that case what would it mean for the actual card. What did the time mean? Was it a connection to a certain time or place. A link to a location?

Lauren groaned. There were to many possibilities floating through her head. They didn't even know if Bo was on this plain of existence. Lauren sighed, that would mean that they would most likely need to find a certain kind of Fae. A tracker Fae with the ability to sense individuals who are stuck in the in between or have been transported off to another dimension.

Lauren racked her brain attempting to remember any of the tracker Fae that she had come across in her years of servitude of the light, both from meeting them personally or from reading about them in books. As much as Lauren hated the idea of having to rely on the Fae it was the only way that they would be able to reach another dimension safely, if that was indeed where Bo had gone. From the looks of the card it would suggest that the possibility that Bo was still within their dimension was minimal at best.

They would need a tracker who was rather far off the grid. Someone who didn't frequently communicate with the Fae, although if all went well they would be able to sneak out of this dimension and begin their journey to rescue Bo in whatever one she had been taken to.

Lauren sighed. The only tracker Fae who fit the profile that came to mind were Helios, a decrepit old man who had retired a few centuries ago, although he still visited the light Fae compound for check ups. He had enjoyed hitting on her, while condescending to her at the same time. Lauren shuddered a little at the memory. There were two others that she could remember off the top of her head. Lauren immediately dismissed one; he had come across as an imbecile the one time she met him.

Lauren sighed. That only left Endymion, a man who had been found in the local county records but hadn't been seen in a few hundred years. It was known that he hadn't left, he had just never bothered to check in either, but he was kind of hard to miss.

Did he have anyone who would have known him as a former lover? Lauren attempted to remember, S-something. Selene! Ah yes, the human mythology. Now how to get Selene's address? Lauren sighed, they would more then likely need to pay a visit to Trick. No. It wasn't safe for her to be out and about, especially in such a crowded place, Kenzi however could most likely move through the space with relative ease. She good was at drawing little attention to her when she needed to be, although it was a skill the younger woman rarely chose to exercise.

There were also a few things that she needed to go retrieve from her old quarters. She still had some of her old equipment, more practical clothing then what she had with her, and hopefully her old gun. Lauren sighed to herself, she had promised herself that she would never pick up the weapon again, but circumstances had changed. Was her paperwork for it still valid? Lauren shook her head. Why was she worrying about that at this point. It was useless. It would at least be easier for her to sneak into her building; the security had always been lax at best, and often nonexistent due to budget cuts. Lauren sighed, hoping that Hale had not decided that her old building was suddenly due for security funding again.

"Lauren?" She could feel someone poking her shoulder. Poke. Poke.

"Kenzi, stop." Lauren sighed before turning to look the young woman directly in the eye. "I was just thinking about the card."

"Did you figure out what MMXV could be?"

"It could be a date: May 10, 2020 or January 5, 2020. It could also be the year 2015."

She could hear Kenzi sigh, the young woman stamping her foot lightly in frustration. "Both of those are so far away. What does it mean? That's when Bo will return?"

Lauren smiled a little. "It could also be a time 20:15 or 8:15 p.m. A time for what, I don't know. But there's one other thing the card can tell us…"

Kenzi cut her off before she could finish her sentence. "Bo's not in this world. She's actually in the card. Or maybe the card is where she's going. What are we going to do Doc? It's not like we can just travel between dimensions. Unless…" Lauren nodded. "Please tell me you know someone who can help."

"I do know someone who could help us, but he's been missing for a long time. His last known contact was with a woman named Selene. She's in the county. Kenzi I need to sneak into Trick's office and find her registration see if you can find a current address." Lauren sighed. "If we can go disguised then we can question her, try and find Endymion."

"The Fae, Doc? Is that really such a good idea?" Lauren sighed and shook her head in response. It was more then likely not a good idea, but as much as she wanted to avoid using the Fae it would be next to impossible, Bo was more then likely not in their dimension right now, there was no way for them to track her down on their own, so as much as she hated it, she needed Fae help this one time.

"I don't like the idea any more then you do, but with Bo out of this dimension things become much more complex. It is impossible for us to navigate the inter-dimensional plane, let alone travel to another one. So we need someone to send us on our way." Lauren could here Kenzi sigh.

"You think this Endymion guy will help us? What about once we go where we need to go, when we rescue Bo, how will we get back?" Lauren shook her head before smiling a little.

"I don't know if Endymion will help us, I do however know that we will more then likely be able to get back. There are usually portals and passages that can be used to go to and from the destination, the problem is we have no way of knowing where one is on our world, or which dimension Bo is in. If we knew either then it would be much easier to traverse, but we know neither, hence the need for Endymion. The portals don't move or dissipate, so long as we have the means to open it on the other side we'll be able to get back." Getting back ironically would be the easy part, so long as they had the right token they would be able to come back, either through a portal or some other means.

She saw Kenzi smile. "Right. I'll go to Trickster's," Lauren could see Kenzi rubbing her hands together, she may be looking forward to being able to steal something from Trick. "Let's just hope that Selene's information is written in English."

Lauren laughed. "While your doing that I'm going to go get some equipment from my quarters. I suggest that you pack some kind of bag and weapons. I have no idea where we are going or when we will be going, but more then likely this journey will not be an easy one."

Lauren could see Kenzi blink at her for a moment, staring. "What kind of clothes are we talking Doc?"

"I would highly suggest practical and durable clothing, we have no way of knowing where we may end up, but it could easily be in the wilderness, just as easily as it could be in the middle of a city." Lauren could hear Kenzi sigh.

"I have to leave my shoes behind don't I."

Lauren nodded. "Unless you want to ruin them, don't forget you'll most likely only have the pair on your feet. I know you like your fashion but please try and find a medium between stylish, comfortable, and low key, we want to blend wherever we go, not stand out like sore thumbs."

Lauren could feel Kenzi's eyes on her. "You've changed Lauren. Your actually standing up for what you want, you're doing what you think you need to do. Like I said before, you're starting to be badass."

Lauren smiled sadly and shook her head. "I wasn't always just a scientist and a doctor Kenzi. There was time when the person I am being right now was me, but I had forgotten her for a long time. I had forgotten what it was like to stand up on my own two feet again, even if right now I'm still struggling not to fall."

She felt Kenzi reach out and lay a hand on her shoulder gently but firmly. The pressure she applied was light, reassuring. She felt Kenzi squeeze her shoulder lightly before she pulled the hand away. "I'm going to go pack that bag and head over to Trick's okay? You go get what you need from your place."

Lauren nodded. "Meet back here in a few hours?" Lauren saw Kenzi nod in response. Lauren walked over to the side table she had left her wig on last night. She could practically hear Kenzi making gagging noises as she pulled the wig on over her own hair adjusting it so that it fell in such a way as to cover the blonde hair.

Lauren smiled and looked back at Kenzi. "Be safe…" Lauren felt herself trailing off awkwardly; she didn't know what to say to the younger woman. She could see Kenzi smirk a little at her before nodding.

"You too Doc. Don't get caught by the light Fae or the dark. I seriously don't want to find out what would happen if Bo found out you went missing while planning a rescue mission for her, and… I wouldn't know what to do either.

"Kenzi…"

"Doc go before I turn into a puddle of mush. Hanging out with the two of you in the same room must be a bad influence." Lauren had to laugh at the younger woman's attempt to deflect the conversation back into more neutral territory.

"I'm going to ignore that last comment and simply say I will see you in a few hours, we go from there okay?" Lauren could see Kenzi nod before Lauren turned around and began to walk out the door of the crack shack and back toward the place that she had called "home" for the past five years.

* * *

It was strange being back in her quarters, it felt like nothing had changed, as if time were standing still. Everything was where she had left it before she had gone with Taft to his laboratory. It had been relatively easy to slip into the building, just as she had predicted they still hadn't hired a new security guard and the cameras were more then likely broken again.

Lauren caught a glimpse of green out of the corner of her eye. The herbs and other plants that she grew on the wall, all looking relatively healthy, it was a good thing she'd had an automated irrigation system installed, some of the herbs were incredibly rare. Was their anything that would be of use to her, to them?

Lauren looked for a moment before deciding that there were not. Many of the herbs had medicinal properties, or could be used to create poisons, but they were only effective against humans and Fae. There was not telling what the place they would be going to would be like.

Lauren quickly shook her head and began to climb the stairs up to her bedroom to look over what she had kept in her closet, it was buried in a few unlabeled boxes as the very back, something many people would dismiss as storage, mundane things like photo albums or decorations.

It was actually the only things she had kept from her time in both the Congo and a few pieces she had retained from her time in the Forces. Lauren sighed, there were so many memories in this place, the island where she had found out that Bo had slept with Dyson. The couch where she and Bo had spent countless nights watching movies or making out, the talks they had had, the moments that she could almost tell herself that they were a somewhat normal couple. It was also the couch where she had asked Bo for the break.

A break that she would deal with later, the consequences of the actions they both took and the reasons behind them that lead. What lead her to making that decision to put them on hold, it would have to be dealt with later. To have a talk about the reasons they were on break she needed her lover, yes she finally decided. It was a break. Lauren sighed and shook her head; she could reminisce and let her mind drift later.

Her home seemed to only bring back memories of them, both happy and sad. Lauren continued up the stairs beginning to compile a mental check list of things that she would need.

Her medical kit would be an obvious one, stocked primarily with medications and first aide equipment for humans. But also packing some for Fae just in case if, no when, they found Bo she was injured and to weak to feed, or couldn't bring herself too… who knows what the person who people who had her were doing to her. Lauren sighed if she thought about what could be happening to Bo, what she could be enduring she would drive herself insane, she needed to focus on finding and rescuing her first, after that it would be one step at a time, they would deal with the consequences, together.

She wouldn't abandon Bo if she could help it, she would always be there and support her, whether it was as her friend or as her girlfriend, no the word was really inadequate, partner. Kenzi would also be their, hopefully if something did happen, or would happen them being there would help a little. Lauren sighed before shaking her head.

She reached out into her closet to pull out an old hiking bag, it was larger then the backpack she had been using to transport her things in, the straps would make it ideal for carrying things. The things that would take up the most space would be her medical supplies, as well as the food and water they would no doubt have to bring along, Lauren sighed before shaking her head and starting to pull out more of her gear.

She heard a familiar clink. Her gun. Lauren winced as she pulled it out. She disliked using the weapon, but it was the only one she was trained to use other then a few lessons with knives. Lauren sighed and looked down at the gun, the safety was secured she gently lifted it up.

She looked down at the hand that was holding the gun, something it hadn't done in a long time. It was time for her to become a warrior again, not necessarily a killer, but also no longer only just the human doctor. Lauren sighed before picking up it and the spare clips that she had. It's use would have to be limited to dire situations, but at least she would no longer be helpless, at least she would no longer have to wait for someone to save her, because if she went down and Kenzi went down there would be no one to save them.

* * *

Lauren looked around her quarters on last time, she tested the weight of the bag resting on her back, it wasn't too heavy and the bag would not be to conspicuous. Lauren reached down to the holster that was attached to her side and sighed. She was not sure whether she disliked the weight of the weapon attached to her hip or not.

Lauren looked around one last time before her eyes fell on her old workstation, there was one more thing she needed to do before she left. The odds of Selene being cooperative in locating Endymion were low, there was really no reason for her to reveal information to them because both her and Kenzi were human. Lauren had to role her eyes, the Fae were a prejudiced and in many ways backward society, they constantly underestimated humans and their abilities.

Lauren smiled a little as she reached into her desk, she had a vile of a drug that would more then likely help with persuading… her hand hit a familiar box. Lauren quickly moved her hand away and gently she reached around until she found the vile of the drug and the needle that was nearby to be used with it.

Lauren gently transferred the two items into one of the side pockets of her bag, within easy reach but for the most part invisible. The box with the necklace she had intended to give Bo as a present. The one she had intended to give her to show just how much she meant to Lauren, what she had done for her.

She had never had the chance. It had never been a good time and then the dawning, shortly after she had asked for the break. The necklace with a ring attached to it carved with the word forever, both simple but meant so much to her. The note she had written, she could remember she had thrown out so many attempts at writing the words which swirled around in her head.

_For giving me the freedom to love. And I do. _

_Forever_

-Lauren

She meant those words the day she had written them, she still meant them to this day. Bo had given her back that freedom, it may not have been freedom of movement or freedom of choice, but it had been freedom to feel and freedom to love again. She had been freed without Bo ever realizing that she had done it. The necklace that meant she had been property, this necklace was a token of her love. She had meant the words she had written that day.

She was free now to pursue whatever path she wanted, live whatever life she could until it was time to run again. But she had chosen to come back, she was risking her life to save the woman whom she loved, because Bo was it for her.

The slave becomes free only for the person who was free to become trapped, it was in many ways an irony. She was free now, but Bo was missing, presumably kidnapped, she was no longer free.

It was her turn to repay that favour to Bo, it was time for her to repay Bo for giving her back a measure of freedom, and giving her the chance to reclaim the rest. It was her turn to put her words into actions.

Lauren felt herself reaching out for the box containing the necklace. "I promised you a forever, its time to act on it. It's time that I free you. You gave me a chance to start to reclaim myself, to start to become the person I used to be, but you also push me to be better then I used to be."

"So I will stand on my own two feet and I will start walking forward, even if the first few steps are painful, even if I fall, I will pull myself back up. No more looking back on the past. I will return your freedom to you Bo, I will save you this time. I meant forever, and I will fight for our chance at forever, but that means I need to find myself again, that also means I need to save you."

Lauren reached around to open her bag and drop the box containing the necklace and the note into it. She wasn't sure why she was bringing it, but it was a reminder of what she was fighting for, who she was fighting to save. It was a vow from her to both herself and to Bo.

It was a vow to fight for herself, for her love, for their forever.


	4. I Grab The Bars As My Foot Falls

**A/N: Sorry about not updating this Fic in so long, but I promise that I will start updating it regularly, I should be updating it once every two weeks on Saturdays. I know this isn't a frequent schedule but I have three other ongoing fics so those also need to be updated. **

**Anyways, thank-you to everyone who has favourited and followed and a special thank-you to everyone who has left reviews. Happy New Years to everyone, and hope everyone who celebrates this time of year had a wonderful holidays. **

* * *

Lauren walked away from the place that she had called "home" for five years without so much as a glance backwards. That place was part of her past now, a time when she had been enslaved, a time when she had not been truly free. Things were different now, and they would remain different if she had anything to say about it.

Never again would she be enslaved to the race whom thought themselves superior to her own. Never again would she allow herself to be used and to be manipulated. No, that was all in the past now, she could do nothing to change it, but she could never allow herself to be pulled into it again.

Never again.

Lauren lifted her head and focused her gaze forward as she continued to walk away from her old building, she knew that she would come back eventually if only to get her possessions. But that time was a long way off, she had no way of knowing how long she would be gone, or even if she would ever return.

Lauren sighed and shook her head, for now she needed to focus on how to get to Endymion, and a way to commission his aide. It was unlikely that he would be cooperative, especially if he wound out that both her and Kenzi were human, but that was a problem that could be dealt with after they found him. The more immediate problem would be finding Selene and getting her to cooperate, Lauren smirked and glanced over at the pocket concealing the drug.

Her cooperate would not be an issue. As much as she hated the idea of drugging someone, she would stop at nothing to ensure Bo's safety, just as she always had. Now all that was needed was for Kenzi to come through on her part of the plan. Hopefully by the time she got back to the Crack Shack Kenzi would already be there and ready to go.

Lauren smiled slightly at the thought of the younger woman, if someone had told her a few months ago that they would be cooperating to rescue Bo, she would have suggested the person visit a mental health professional. But here she was, about to embark on a journey that could very well end in her own death, Lauren shrugged slightly internally. There was nothing she could do, as she had told Kenzi there was no more sitting around, no more waiting, this was her responsibility, her desire, her job, and she would be damned if she let Dyson rescue Bo.

Lauren sighed before glancing up again, noting the increasingly dilapidated buildings as well as an increasing number of warehouses that surrounded her. She was starting to get closer to the Crack Shack.

Was she one hundred percent sure about this? The answer was a resounding no. But this was what she had decided to do, this was the path she had chosen, and it was time to walk down it, because for better or for worse this was what she had chosen of her own free will. This was the promise she had made to Bo when she had bought her that necklace, the one she now carried in her bag…

"Doc…" She heard someone hiss out. Lauren quickly reached down to her hip, ready to grab her gun at a moments notice. As she glanced around Lauren caught sight of a familiar face partially hidden by the shadow of one of the industrial buildings. It was only Kenzi, Lauren took a breath before relaxing her posture and quickly approaching Kenzi.

"What's wrong? I though we were going to meet at the Club House?" Lauren asked as she approached. She saw Kenzi shake her head before gesturing to the backpack next to her.

"Ixney on the Crack Shack. Dyson's there. I was just coming back from getting Selene's address… which you owe me for by the way, major league owe me. I had to sneak through the sewers to get into the Dal. It has ruined my good shoes."

"Kenzi at least one piece of your clothing gets ruined every other day. Lauren pointed out before remembering something else. "And I though I told you to wear practical shoes!"

She heard Kenzi sigh before gesturing down at her feet. Hiking shoes, a little blingy, but still sensible, she must have changed them. "Anyways Doc. When I saw his cop car pull in. If already looked at where this place is Lauren but we need to go… like now, because if he picks up on your scent in the shack then we're screwed." Lauren nodded quickly before smiling slightly at Kenzi.

"Thanks Kenz for getting the address and looking it up, that's actually surprisingly forward thinking of you" She heard Kenzi huff, Lauren just laughed again before realizing that she had no idea where Selene lived. "… umm where exactly does Selene live?" She heard Kenzi laugh slightly as she stood up, reaching out for the backpack that was sitting beside her on the ground and then reaching out to grab the sword next to her.

"Believe it or not, a beauty parlor. Which is going to make getting to her…" Lauren sighed before finishing Kenzi's sentace.

"About a zillion times more complicated." She heard Kenzi laugh.

"Yep Doc. Now let's get goin' since I assume we're going to be stuck walking unless…"

Lauren shook her head cutting Kenzi off. "You will not hotwire a car Kenzi, the last thing we need is for someone to notice a missing vehicle and report it. We can walk I assume?" She heard Kenzi sigh before nodding and pulling out her phone, handing it to Lauren.

"The directions M'lady." She saw Kenzi gesture grandly as she handed the phone to Lauren. She glanced down at the display for a moment before noting that the beauty parlour was surprisingly close to where they were, maybe a fifteen minute walk… no wait that was the driving time. It was about an hours walk, Lauren groaned before glancing over at Kenzi.

"What are the odds you can get the Beast and the keys? It'll take to long to walk without risking Dyson catching us. Shit… I left some of my clothes there." She saw Kenzi smirk for a second before reaching into one of her pockets and pulling out a set of keys.

"One step ahead of you here Lauren. I grabbed the keys already, and the Beast is actually parked just down the road. As for your clothes… I took care of them, Bo is now the proud owner of three new boring blouses and a few pairs of too small jeans." She heard Kenzi laugh or a second before sighing again. "In all seriousness Doc do you really think Dyson is going to think twice about some of your clothing mixed in with Bo's?"

Lauren shook her head before smiling, trust Kenzi to point out the obvious… although Lauren frowned slightly before remembering that she had packed more hiking clothes in her bag. "No, I don't. Know where exactly is the Camaro?"

She saw Kenzi smirk slightly before she started to walk out of the alley they had been talking in and towards a tarp? In the distance. Lauren quickly jogged to catch up with Kenzi. Now that she thought about it, there was some logic to not keeping the Camaro in their lot. It would have been a dead give away that the condemned house was occupied.

She saw Kenzi approached the covered car and frown for a moment before squatting down and sticking her arm under the tarp, obviously looking for something. She saw the young woman smile a few second later as she withdrew her hand and stood up.

"Hey Doc, can you help me with this?" Lauren nodded and rushed over grabbing the side of the tarp across from Kenzi. Slowly they walked backward pulling the heavy fabric off of whatever it was converging. Lauren sighed in relief when it was revealed that it was indeed the Camaro.

She could hear Kenzi let out a whoop of joy. Lauren turned to Kenzi, raising an eyebrow. "Was there a chance that this wasn't the Camaro?"

She saw Kenzi smirk slightly before winking at her. "Let's just say that we aren't the only people who stash their car around here, amongst other things." Lauren sighed and shook her head.

"I don't think I want to know what else they hide out here do I?"

"No, probably not." She saw Kenzi smirk over at her before she held out the keys a sheepish expression crossing her face. "Can you drive? I uh… don't really have a license. And I don't think this is the time to be going joy riding because I can barely drive."

Lauren smiled gently before reaching out to take the keys, she gently unbuckled the straps that were keeping the backpack attached to her and hefted it into the backseat of the Camaro. She saw Kenzi's eyes go wide as she took off her much smaller bag.

"Did you bring your whole lab in there?" She heard Kenzi ask surprise lacing her voice. Lauren laughed before shaking her head.

"Not quite, although I did pack a rather substantial first-aid kit. It's mostly food and water, essentially whatever dried and canned food I had in my apartment, as well as some canteens of water, thermal blankets, as well as some other necessary equipment." Lauren sighed before shaking her head. "Ideally we would go without these things, but we have no idea where we're going. I would rather be prepared and over packed then unprepared. If one of us gets sick or injured then that's it."

She saw Kenzi nod before she dumped her own bag in the backseat unceremoniously. "I'd rather have that stuff then not. I know what it's like to be hungry and thirsty, it does weird shit to your mind, and if I can I would rather not go through that again. Actually you're not the only one who packed water and some food." Lauren smiled slightly before making a mental note to eat whatever Kenzi was carrying first. It was more then likely perishable.

Lauren shook her head before walking around to the driver's side, reaching out to open the door. The last time she had driven this car… it was when she had gone on vacation with Nadia. Lauren felt her heart clench slightly at the thought of her dead girlfriend and she ignored it, she had to or else she would loose her sanity. Bo… Lauren shook her head. There was no way in hell she was going to let Bo die, assuming… no she was still alive.

Lauren didn't know how to explain it but somehow she knew that Bo was still alive.

"Doc? Lo? Lauren? Hotpants? Hellloo?" She heard Kenzi calling her from the passenger seat.

"Sorry Kenzi… I just got lost it thought." Lauren murmur as she reached out to open the driver's side door, sliding into the seat a few moments later. She heard Kenzi huff slightly before a sad smile crossed her face.

"I'm starting to get the feeling that you do that a lot." She heard Kenzi pause for a moment. "The last time you were in this car was when you were with Nadia wasn't it." Lauren felt herself stop midway through putting on her seatbelt. How…? Did Kenzi really remember that small detail? She shook her head a second later and finished buckling in.

Lauren looked up into the rearview mirror adjusting it so that she could see better out of the mirror. "I'm surprised that you remember that."

She saw Kenzi look at her through the mirror for a moment before glancing away. "It's kinda hard to forget when you're trying to sooth your sister's broken heart all while trying to juggle a boyfriend." She heard Kenzi sigh again. Lauren reached out and gently rested her hand on the younger woman's shoulder.

She didn't know much about what happened between Kenzi and Nate, but she did know that she had ended it to protect him. "For the record Kenzi? I regret what happened then, I regret it so much." She felt Kenzi tense up.

"Doc, drive." Lauren wanted to question what Kenzi was saying but the tone in her voice was stern and desperate. Lauren quickly put the key in the ignition and pulled out of the alleyway Lauren allowed herself to take a quick glance in the rearview mirror. She saw a man standing on the porch of the Crack Shack, holding something… Lauren squinted slightly. A small blonde haired child, most likely a toddler, on his hip. Dyson most likely, but who was the young child?

Lauren quickly pressed on the gas peddle harder with her foot. The last thing they needed was Dyson chasing the, although given that he way carrying a child on his hip, it was unlikely. She glanced up in the mirror again, she couldn't fully read his expression, he appeared to be squinting in confusion. Lauren quickly glanced back at the road, slowing down just enough to turn the corner safely before she speed away.

She glanced over at Kenzi quickly before returning her eyes to the road, he gaze appeared to be locked on the road behind them, as if she was watching for something or someone, most likely Dyson.

Lauren focused her eyes back on the road before she called out over the howling wind. "Kenzi? I need you to tell me where we're going." She glanced over at Kenzi again, it appeared that she hadn't heard her. Lauren silently cursed Bo for having a muscle car in this moment. "Kenzi!" She cried out louder this time.

She could see Kenzi flinch visibly for a moment before turning to look at her. Lauren turned her eyes back to the road a few seconds later before she spoke again in a softer voice. "Sorry Kenz. I didn't mean to yell at you, I just need you to navigate okay?" She could feel Kenzi's eyes on her for a few moments longer.

Lauren glanced over at Kenzi again, only to see the younger woman flash her a quick smile. "Sure thing Doc." She heard Kenzi reply a few minutes later. Lauren sighed a little before focusing on the road in front of her. She sometimes forgot about Kenzi's past, what it must have been like for her growing up. Lauren sighed before focusing on the road in front of her, she would have to be more careful about how she spoke around Kenzi. The two of them were it for each other now. Team human, yes, that was them, team human.

Lauren shook her head slightly and focused on the road. Every few minutes Kenzi would call out a direction over the howling wind. Eventually the industrial district that surrounded them began to fade into a more affluent part of town, closer to the downtown core Light Fae territory Lauren noted with some degree of disinterest, of course it had to be the Light.

She glanced around again when they stopped at a traffic light. It was quite a nice area of town, much newer then the portion they had just come from. All shiny glass houses and new high-rise apartments. "We almost there Kenzi?" Lauren found herself asking a few minutes later. The less time they spent in the Fae parts of town the better it would be for both of them.

"Yeah, just keep going straight until we reach the next set of lights and then hang a left. It should be on the right side of the street," She heard Kenzi stop for a second, before she felt the other woman's piercing gaze turn to her. "Lauren… please tell me you have some kind of plan here, or are we just going to storm the building."

Lauren turned her head slightly and smirked at Kenzi. "I have something that will help us get Selene to talk, but as for getting in… we're going to walk in and pretend to be customers." Lauren sighed, really it could at best be considered a half-baked plan, but she had no better idea. She glanced over at Kenzi's face to see her staring at her slack-jawed and wide-eyed.

"That's it. Seriously? I thought you'd come up with something better then that Doc, aren't you like some kinda genius?" Lauren sighed glancing at the road again before shifting her gaze back to Kenzi.

"What do you want me to do, barge in there my gun blazing? Have you follow me in brandishing your sword? The only thing that will do it get us arrested, or laughed at." Lauren shook her head letting out a groan before shifting her eyes back onto the road. The light had turned green, she started to drive again. "The point is, the best way to sneak in would be the one that draws the least attention to us, that would be posing as customers in this case. Then all we have to do is sneak away and find Selene."

She heard let out a laugh. "That sounds like a plan that BoBo would come up with." Lauren sighed before she nodded, it really did sound like a plan that Bo would come up with, but what else was there for her to do. It was not like this was a lab, or that they had access to the Ash's resources in order to seek Endymion out, they had to do this the old fashion way.

"Turn left!" She heard Kenzi cry out frantically a few seconds later. Lauren quickly glanced behind her, the road was empty, and shifted into the left lane, turning a few moments later. As she looked around attempting to find a parking space she heard Kenzi let out a whistle. "Subtle."

Lauren glanced over at the right side and saw what Kenzi did, in front of them was a garish building, painted the brightest shade of pink imaginable. "I think that shade of pink would make Pepto Bismal jealous." Lauren found herself muttering.

She could hear Kenzi laugh. Lauren glanced around again before noting the parking lot next to the building, she pulled into it and quickly found a space. The parking lot was virtually empty. As Lauren put the vehicle in park she glanced over at Kenzi, who appeared to be glancing between her phone and the building. "Yep, this is the place alright."

A thought suddenly popped into her head, if Kenzi had been using her phone as a GPS then they could track it and them to this specific place. Shit. Not that it mattered but if it took them a little bit of time to track them down that would be for the best. "Kenzi did you have the location server on this entire time?"

She saw Kenzi shoot her a look before saying. "What do you take me for Doc, an idiot? No, of course not. It's been off the entire time." Lauren sighed in relief before reaching behind her to pull her pack out.

"We should put these in the trunk, the last thing we need is someone stealing them." She saw Kenzi nod in agreement reaching for her own smaller bag before she undid her seatbelt and opened her door. Lauren quickly did the same before she stood up and gently shut the door behind her, making sure she locked the car behind her. She quickly walked around the car to the trunk and inserted the key, a few seconds later she heard a click.

Lauren gently placed the bag inside of the trunk before she turned it on it's side and reached into the side pocket. Quickly drawing the vial and the needle out she uncapped the needle and inserted it into the top, tipping the small vial upside down. She slowly pulled back on the plunger of the needle drawing the contents out. A few seconds later she had emptied the contents of the vial into the syringe, glancing over at Kenzi quickly noting that she appeared to have tensed quite a bit, Lauren pulled the needle away and recapped it before slipping it into her sleeve.

Lauren sighed looking Kenzi over once, noting that she was still holding her sword. "Kenzi… the sword?" She heard Kenzi mutter something before she placed it down in the trunk and reached up to slam the door down.

"That's not just a sword you know, her name is Geraldine." Lauren laughed and reached over to pat Kenzi on the shoulder gently before shoving her in the direction of the beauty parlour, she heard more annoyed muttering. This just caused Lauren to laugh.

"Is there any way we could avoid setting foot in the pink reject? And why to do you get to keep your gun?" Lauren simply patted Kenzi on the back again before shoving her forward.

"I get to keep my gun because it's not noticeable when I have my jacket on, unlike Geraldine, who is a very long, very sharp sword." Lauren paused for a moment before adding. "And if you don't start walking I will drag you into that building with me by force." There was no way in hell she was setting foot in the Pepto Bismal building without backup, even is she had to physically drag Kenzi in with her. Lauren sighed and shook her head before laughing silently.

"Katana. Geraldine is a Katana." She heard Kenzi mutter as she started to walk towards the beauty parlour. Lauren just laughed and started to follow behind the younger woman a few moments later.

Lauren glanced around the beauty parlour as they entered, it was much nicer on the inside then the rather unfortunate façade would have suggested, light beige walls, frosted glass doors, plenty of natural light. How on earth were the inside and the outside so different? Lauren sighed and shook her head; design aesthetics could be payed attention to at a later time, when her lover's life was not in danger. As they walked further into the establishment Lauren noted that they seemed to turn quite a few heads, although if this was good or bad she couldn't be sure.

As they approached the counter Lauren noticed that a blonde woman, older then the rest, slowly started to approach them. She could see some of the other people, the workers, she assumed backing away. Oh great. Lauren sighed before she gently slipped the needle into her hand, gently discarding the cap with two fingers.

"Yo…" Lauren glanced at Kenzi raising her eyebrow. What was the young woman trying to do? "My sister and I were wondering if we could talk to the person in charge?" Sister, Kenzi really? She heard some murmuring in the crowd before the blonde woman from before stepped forward.

"Hello, I'm the owner of this establishment, is there something I can do for you?" That must be Selene then. Lauren slowly inched up beside Kenzi leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"That's Selene." She saw Kenzi nod her head slightly before the younger woman extended her hand.

"Hello, yes. My name is McKenzie. My sister's girlfriend came here the other weak for a…" What the hell happened to being customers Kenzi? Lauren sighed a little internally before glancing over at the younger woman. She saw Kenzi's eyes darting around before glancing up at her for help.

"Facial…" Lauren spoke. "My partner came here for a facial last week. Unfortunately she had a severe allergic reaction, and we believe it to be from a product used here." Oh god really that was the best you could come up with Lauren?

She heard Kenzi walk up to Selene before resting her hand on the other woman's shoulder. The look on Selene's face… Lauren wanted to burst out laughing, it looked like she was fighting the urge to screw her face up in disgust. Disgust at what? Because the human dared to touch you? "It was horrible she spent a week in the hospital before they released her." That would be inaccurate Kenzi, Lauren thought rolling her eyes slightly at the other woman's dramatics.

Lauren sighed and walked over to where the two women were standing, reaching over to wrap her arm around Kenzi's shoulder, pulling her close, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "I need you to distract the estheticians." She saw Kenzi nod slightly before she backed away slightly.

"I'll just leave you two to talk, I'm sure my sister has some questions about what you use in your products. Meanwhile I'm goin' to see if I can find the person who did her facial." Lauren could see Kenzi walk over and start to hound the gathered estheticians. Lauren quickly glanced back at Selene who had one of her eyebrows raised.

Lauren sighed before smiling. "You'll have to excuse my sister, she's a little…" Lauren paused before leaning over close to Selene. "Crazy. Is there somewhere private we could go and talk? I'm sure you don't want your customers to make a big fuss."

Lauren saw Selene nod before gesturing to the stairs. "My office is upstairs if you would like to continue this conversation." Lauren nodded and they both began to head upstairs, as they reached the top Lauren saw Selene turn around "I apologize deeply for what happened to your sister…" Lauren reached up and gently rested her finger on Selene's neck. Carotid… Carotid. There. "What are you…" Lauren gently brought the needle up and pressed it into Selene's neck.

"I need your help Selene… I need you to tell me where Endymion is, it's very important okay?" Please let this work, please let this work.

"Why would I…" She heard Selene take a breath as her pupils began to dilate. "Of course, of course just follow me." Lauren let out a whoop before taking a quick glance over the stairs, she saw Kenzi looking up at her. She nodded and gave her the thumbs-up. She saw a smile break out across Kenzi's face before she muttered something to the esthetician she was talking to and start to walk towards the stairs.

Lauren turned her gaze back to Selene who was walking towards a very large painting on the door. She saw Selene lift it off of the wall and gently place it on the ground before she reached over to start pulling and playing with the door? Lauren sighed and glanced over to the stairs where she saw Kenzi climb-up the last steps before quickly walking towards her.

"What's going on?" Lauren gestured over to Selene who was frowning at the door before she reached out to play with some knobs again. "What's with her?" She saw Kenzi glance over at her. Lauren gently pulled out the needle she had used, she saw Kenzi's eyes go wide. "You drugged her?!" She heard Kenzi hiss.

"Essentially yes." Lauren sighed. "It's an extract from a very rare flower. It's essentially like a Fae drug, it makes them high, open and vulnerable to suggestion." She saw Kenzi's eyes go wide before she gestured over to Selene who was waving at them with a smile on her face.

"He's right through here the right bastard." Lauren sighed and began to walk towards Selene who was stepping through the opening in the wall. Lauren gasped at what she saw next, a man was lying prone on a bed, he appeared to be dressed only in a long robe. Lauren glanced over at Selene who was climbing onto the other side of the bed.

"He tried to leave me… I didn't let him." Lauren sighed and walked over to Endymion, pressing two fingers to his neck and feeling around. He had a pulse thankfully. Lauren sighed before she turned her gaze to Selene.

"Can you wake him up for me?" She saw Selene consider it for a minute before laughing and shaking her head.

"No. He's mine, I want to keep him." Lauren sighed and rolled her eyes. Why could nothing ever be simple?

"Selene he's his own person, you can't just keep others here against their own wills."

"Why shouldn't I? You're just a human; surely someone has to own you for you to be wondering around. Is that why you're here because your master asked you to kidnap me?"

Lauren growled low in her throat. "No one own me, humans cannot and should not be owned anybody. I understand that may be a foreign concept to the Fae, but surprise, surprise. I'm my own person and I'm free, I'm not here for a master. I'm here for Endymion. And. You. Will. Awaken. Him."

She heard Selene sigh before leaning over to kiss Endymion on the lips. "There, now will you go away? I'm starting to feel a little…" 3…2…1. And the drug kicked in fully Lauren thought as she watched Selene fall back into a pile of pillows, a snore escaping from her a few seconds later.

A few moments later she could see the first signs of movement in Endymion, Lauren sighed debating between going over to make sure he was okay or not. Lauren glanced over at Kenzi who was staring at her wide-eyed. "You drugged her."

Lauren sighed before shaking her head. "Like I said before, it's a plant extract, it makes the Fae vulnerable to suggestion for a short time before it knocks them out. It's usually harmless in the long-run." Death was rarely associated with this drug, it was normally safe, often it was used by the Light to withdraw confessions from prisoners without torture.

Lauren sighed and shook her head, glancing over at Selene again. A small part of her felt guilty for drugging the woman in front of her, but the larger part of her, which was primarily concerned with assuring Bo's safety, was less remorseful. She did what needed to be done, no more and no less. Lauren sighed, the drug did not have any lasting side effects usually, more akin to a short euphoric high, followed by the best night's sleep of someone's life.

"And you just happen to have some of this lying around?" There was a hint of disbelief in Kenzi's voice.

Lauren nodded and shrugged. "I usually keep some in my home lab incase I have to deal with an unruly patient, it's a good sedative and tranquilizer." Lauren frowned. "Although I will admit that drugging her was probably not the ideal solution to this particular problem, it was the only one I could come up with. But honestly if we had tried any other way we most likely would have just ended up dealing with Fae bullshit and prejudice."

Lauren glanced up at Kenzi who was shrugging at her. "Sometimes you do what you have to do. Although for future reference I would like to avoid drugging people."

Lauren sighed and glanced back over at Endymion who kept letting out groans as though he was having a hard time awakening. A few seconds later she saw him sit-up, opening his eyes and glancing over at the unconscious Selene.

"Hello there, I am to presume that it was you who saved me?" Lauren nodded.

"We need your help, Endymion." She saw Endymion's face screw up for a moment before she shook his head.

"I shall repay the favour to your master human. Tell him that I thank him for sending you to rescue me." Lauren rolled her eyes and groaned before glaring at him. Insufferable, that was the word that the book she had read used to describe him.

"We have no master, Endymion. But I do believe that you owe us a favour. We need you to find someone, my love, she was kidnapped by someone, taken out of this dimension, and we need your help to find her."

She saw Endymion glance over at her as he stood up and stretched slightly. "I thank-you for freeing me, but I have little interest in helping two humans rescue another one." There had to be someway to convince him... they needed help to traverse the worlds. Lauren sighed and then something she had read about him once popped into her head.

"I once read that you loved to hear a good love story?" Lauren wanted to groan at what she was about to do, but you do what is necessary sometimes. She could see Kenzi shooting her a look. Lauren shook her head before mouthing 'Me and Bo'. She saw Kenzi nod a few moments later.

"That is correct. However I doubt that you have any good stories human. You're love tends to be shallow and fleeting." Lauren rolled her eyes at him. She was so tired of dealing with pretentious Fae, and apparently people who hadn't been awake in centuries years was worse.

"What about the story of a human doctor, bound to servitude to the Light, who fell in love with a Fae, a succubus at that? Two lovers destined to be forever apart, forever separated by time and biology. But despite that, the Fae returns the feelings and the human is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure her lover survives. She's caught in a love triangle with another Fae, a wolf shifter, but the succubus chose her, the human lover. The human got the girl. The stupid Fae never truly realized that human-Fae relationships were illegal, punishable by death. That pretty much the entire world was against them. But the human will fight for the succubus because she owes her, she owes her so much, she loves the succubus too much to give up on her. The succubus has saved her so many times, it was time for the human lover to return the favour."

"It sounds like a lovely, but tall tale human. Why would a succubus ever choose a human over a Fae?"

"Because she loves the human, her best friend is a human," She gestured over at Kenzi, who waved slightly to Endymion. "She protects humans, she is unique amongst her species, unique amongst the Fae, she is unaligned, she chose humanity. And that human lover? The human loves her back, she loves the succubus more deeply then she has ever loved anyone, she marvels at how she could have gotten so lucky as to meet someone like her. She loves the succubus enough to come home despite being wanted by all Fae as a terrorist, enough to fight against this world and its prejudices in order to save the person she loves the most. The human lover is me. I fell in love with a succubus."

She saw the dimension traveler in front of her shrug before smirking slightly. "Your love sound like a tragedy, a marvelous tale and a terrible tragedy."

Lauren nodded. "But I'll do everything in my power to stop us from being a tragedy. It's my turn to protect her, just like she protected me so many times before."

She saw Endymion sigh before smiling and nodding a little. "A succubus who fell in love with a human. I never thought I would live to see the prophecy fulfilled." A short laugh before Endymion started shaking his head in disbelief "I never thought the human lover would be the one to triumph. I never before thought that the human lover would win over the Fae, who could support the succubus, with time be all she needs. But the prophecy said that the succubus would make choices that was unexpected by everyone, that the she makes choices would change this world forever."

"So you'll help me find her?" She saw Endymion shake his head a little before smiling at her.

"You already know where to find your love. If you are who I believe you are then you should already know, you're linked to her after all." Lauren thought for a moment, then she realized something. As she had been regaining her memories, she'd had the images of a train traveling through a dark void. The dark void, a certain Fae legend that she read about a long time ago came to her mind,… the gateway between worlds. Of course.

"She's on a train. The only light in a dark world, no the dark plain between worlds. The train is traveling somewhere, but where I don't know."

She saw Endymion smile and nod slightly. "Go to the place where great energy crosses, a place seemingly caught in time and space. You'll see two mirror images of something or someone facing each other. There insert the ticket you are carrying and wait, as an object approaches jump in front of it. You'll find your train."

Lauren glanced up at Endymion. "What changed your mind about helping me?"

She heard Endymion sigh softly before chuckling. "Who am I to stand in the way of true love? Even if it is between human and Fae. Go, rescue your love, for she only has a short time left."

Lauren looked over at Kenzi, she could see a new determination in her gaze, a glint of something more in her eye.

"I think I know the place we're looking for. There're rumours of a span of train-tracks where two hotdog vendors appear. It's right next to a junk heap, which includes an old ticket reader. It's down near our place." Lauren look up at Kenzi, a smile slipping onto her lips.

She looked over at Kenzi who nodded to her as they started to leave the room. "Let's go rescue my bestie and your girl."


	5. I Stumble But I Don't Fall

Lauren pulled up next to an unassuming line of train tracks. She glanced over at Kenzi who nodded at her. This was the place.

Had it really only been a day? Had it really only been three days since she had left that small town in the middle of nowhere?

It had been. It was so strange to think about. That 72 hours ago she had been ignorant of what had been happening with Bo, of herself really. It was strange to think of it. She glanced over at Kenzi.

She knew that their truce would not last forever, but hopefully between this and the time they would have to spend together, they would be able to bond. Lauren sighed a little and glanced over at Kenzi, whom was smiling at her a little bit. It was odd to think of all of this, but still they had a reason to be here, a job to do.

Funny, it sure as hell didn't look like anything other then an old abandoned set of train tracks. Those were common throughout Ontario though, nothing new there. The only reason to suspect this area of the train track was the mirage of seemingly heat, but it was not that hot out anymore, given that it was approaching evening. Actually if she squinted she could see the rumoured double hotdog vendor further ahead. It appeared that he was caught in time, an evaluation of his clothing and the hotdog stand would reveal that it was from an area that was long past. Probably the sixties. Interesting, how it was caught in time and space.

It would be interesting if she knew more about physics, but she didn't. She was a doctor, and biochemist by her undergraduate degree. But beyond a few required physics courses, she was no expert.

She could see Kenzi walking over and shaking her hand in front of her face. "Doc? Doc… Hello. Hello!" When she didn't respond she could hear Kenzi sigh, and she walked up and started to shake her. Lauren smiled before she reached out to tap Kenzi on the nose fondly.

She could see Kenzi swat at her nose when she moved her finger away again. Lauren laughed before she took the keys out of the ignition and reached over to undo her seatbelt. She could see Kenzi reaching out to do the same.

A thought entered her mind. What could they do to ensure that Bo's beloved car wasn't stolen? Lauren glanced over at the junk heap and then glanced back at the car before she reached into her pocket, groping around for her phone before she remembered that she didn't have it anymore.

Lauren glanced over at Kenzi, she knew that the young woman more then likely had her phone with her. She needed to call Dyson somehow. She knew that he was close by and that he would be able to come and retrieve the car. Seconds later she shook her head. That was a terrible idea. They could not afford that. She and Kenzi needed as much of a head start as possible. Lauren sighed, and simply decided to park the car and bring the keys with her. Perhaps they could pull up the top and roll up the windows. At the very least that would probably deter the less adventurous thieves.

If they found whatever it was that they could use to bring them to where the ticket… the tarot card…? Hmm. Had they brought it with them? She knew that she hadn't brought it with her, she had left in such a rush. But perhaps Kenzi remembered…

"Kenz… Did you bring that tarot card you found?" She asked as she glanced over at Kenzi, who had gone around to open the trunk, seemingly having forgotten that she still had the keys. Lauren laughed as she opened her door and walked over to the young woman before she dangled the key in front of her.

"Looking for these?" A few seconds later she felt air where the keys used to be. Lauren glanced down at her hand to see that the keys were gone.

"How?" She wondered aloud, her eyes widening at the thought of the dexterity that this must have required. She glanced down at Kenzi, who was spinning the key on her fingers for a few seconds before she saw Kenzi laugh when the keys flew off of her fingers due to their gathered momentum. A smug look settled on her face a few moments later as she stuck her tongue out at Lauren. She bent over to try and grab the keys from the ground, only to be tackled by Kenzi.

This idea ended up causing them to collapse on the ground when she reached over to grab and Kenzi who twisted her body to prevent her from grabbing the key. A few seconds after they fell on the ground, Kenzi on the bottom.

As Lauren propped herself up on her elbows she look down at Kenzi who had a wide-eyed look of shook on her face, and for some reason she found it to be incredibly comical, and after a few seconds she of attempting to suppress it she burst out laughing. After the shook wore off and the comical expression faded slightly she could see and hear Kenzi starting to laugh along with her, a brilliant smile creeping onto the younger woman's face.

Lauren paused for a moment and realized that this may be the first time that she had seen Kenzi genuinely smile, and the first time she'd heard genuine laughter. Normally the only expressions she saw on Kenzi's face were various looks of contempt, of death glares aimed in her direction.

She barely new the young woman in front of her. She knew a little about her past that could be garnered through observation, and she knew the stories that Bo had told her. But she didn't know Kenzi as a person.

This was her lover's best friend, and a person who in a strange way was family to her. It couldn't hurt to try and get to know her a little better, and to be honest this trip would probably serve that purpose.

A few seconds later she started to stand up before she put her hand out and offered it to Kenzi, who had propped herself up into a sitting position. She saw the younger woman hesitate for a few moments before she reached her hand out and into Lauren's, silently accepting her offer of help.

Lauren smiled at Kenzi as she pulled her up. A few seconds later she saw Kenzi look up at her and smile back before she glanced down at her watch. "We should get ready to go Doc, it's almost quarter after."

Lauren glanced down at her own watch and saw that she was greeted with 8:10. Not much time. She quickly snatched the keys off the ground and walked over the trunk and gently popped it open. She quickly lifted her bag out of the trunk and pulled it onto her shoulders before clipping the bag to her waist.

A few moments later she watched Kenzi walk over to the trunk to retrieve her own bag and the sword, Katana, Geraldine. When Lauren got a good look at the bag as Kenzi hefted it over her shoulder it was much larger then she had originally thought.

Lauren shook her head when she remembered the tarot card. "Kenz… did you by chance happen to bring the tarot card we found this morning?"

She saw a smirk appear on Kenzi's face a few seconds later when she saw her reach into one of her pockets and pull out the card. "I see that your big brain doesn't always remember everything does it Doc?"

Lauren laughed before she shook her head. "I sometimes forget things that seem trivial to me, sometimes I would misplace the keys to my and Nadia's old apartment."

She saw Kenzi smirk a few seconds later. "So you're just as human as the rest of us huh?" There was a tone of surprise in her voice. Did she really come across as that inhuman to others?

Just how much of her humanity had slipped away without her even knowing? How much of herself had she lost? Lauren shook her head and sighed a little. She needed to rediscover herself, and that would take time and effort on her part, some of this would be rescuing Bo. But more of it was simply giving her time to allow herself to grow an evolve as she needed to.

"Yeah." She responded. "Now do you have any idea where this junk heap with the old train ticket reader you mentions was?"

She could see Kenzi laugh slightly, a sheepish look appearing on her face for a few seconds. "I don't really know if there's actually a ticket reader here, it was just the rumour I heard. But so far everything else's been right, so…"

Lauren sighed aloud and pinched the bridge of her nose; she should have known that Kenzi's information was from a secondary, possibly even tertiary source, rather then a primary source. Although she was right, everything else that had been mention so far had been accurate. The double hot dog vendor and the seemingly abandoned… no if she listened in the distance she could hear a startingly familiar whistle, a trains whistle.

Shit. They had less time then she'd originally thought. They needed to find the ticket reader and insert the tarot card as soon as possible or else they would have to wait twelve hours, and the more time they spent here the more they risked being caught. Shit.

She automatically reached down to her hip in order to ensure tat her gun was still strapped to her hip, if someone or something started coming after them because they missed the train Geraldine would more then likely not be enough.

"We don't have much time Kenz." Lauren glanced over at the junk heaps that they were parked in front of, a sense of urgency rising within her. "Do we even have any idea what this thing looks like? Did your rumours tell you anything else?"

She saw Kenzi's face screw up slightly as if she was thinking for a few seconds before she saw her eyes light up, obviously she had come up with something. Sure enough a few moments later she saw a smile light up Kenzi's face as she pointed to a particular pile of junk.

"There!" Lauren glanced over at the pile Kenzi was pointing at, raising her eyebrow skeptically. There didn't appear to be anything special about that particular pile of junk, it appeared to be all odds and ends. She saw Kenzi glance at it again before she nodded to herself and began to walk over to the pile, moving her backpack around so that it rested against her chest, allowing her access to a side pocket.

Lauren sighed in relief when she saw Kenzi pull out the tarot card with the familiar image on it. One that made her heart ache in sorrow. She shook her head; the last thing she could afford was to be thinking like that.

Lauren frowned slightly before she followed. She was still skeptical, but she needed to trust the younger woman, she was the one who had heard this rumour from exactly? It was oddly specific. Lauren sighed again before she shrugged her shoulders slightly, it was probably something that Kenzi heard from one of her friends or a rumour that circulated over the internet. But still the odds of it being true… Lauren shook her head slightly a smile slipping onto her face, most myths had a t least a grain of truth to them, no matter how outrageous.

"Doc!" She heard Kenzi call to her, breaking her out of her thoughts. She could see her waving somewhat frantically next to an odd shaped piece of junk. Lauren sighed and walked over to where Kenzi was standing. She was next to the train tracks, as she got closer she still couldn't see what had Kenzi gesturing so frantically.

"What?" All Lauren got in response was Kenzi pointing a finger at a specific heap of junk in front of her.

Lauren stared at the junk heap in front of her, glancing over at what appeared to be an old jukebox at first glance, but upon closer inspection it appeared to be an odd ticket machine. "This is it?" She asked, a hint of disbelief creeping into her voice. The thing that looked like an old music machine was seriously their key to finding Bo?

It was so… old. It didn't look as if it was the key to ensuring their safe passage. Lauren brought her hand up to run it through her hair before she turned to Kenzi, who had a small smirk on her face.

"Am I good or what?" Lauren sighed and shook her head as a fond smile slipped onto her face for a moment before a more serious expression slipped onto her face.

"Are you sure about this Kenzi?" If she was wrong she could very well end up killing them. And if they were gone then Bo would be left helpless in whatever situation she found herself in. Although who knew, it was possible that B had already escaped on her own and was attempting to find her way back to them. Lauren sighed and shook her head, for some reason she doubted it.

Her train of thoughts were broken when she heard another train whistle, a little closer this time. She glanced down at her watch. 8:20. Shit they didn't have much time left. Lauren held her hand out for the tarot card, or really at this point it would probably be more accurate to call it a ticket. She glanced up at Kenzi who had a small smile on her face before she nodded and put the card in Kenzi's hand.

Lauren gently knelt down next to ticket machine. She studied the machine closely, upon closer inspection she was mistaken to have thought of it as a jukebox. Although its overall shape appeared to have some resemblance the machine was not a music player, although it could have the capacity.

Another train whistle.

Lauren quickly ran her hand over the face of the machine looking for a slit… ah there it was. Quickly she brought the ticket up to the slot and inserted it. At first nothing happened, not that she had really expected it to. But then a few moments later a handle popped out of the side of the machine, she glanced over at Kenzi.

"This is your last chance to run Kenz, if you don't want to do this, if you're having any doubts, now is the time." Lauren quickly glanced over at Kenzi, there was a small look of shock on her face before she shook her head.

"No way in hell Doc. If you think I'm going to let you go alone then you obviously don't know me all that well. Bo's in danger. My bestie, the woman you love." She saw Kenzi look up at her, a fire of determination burning in her eyes. "I risked my life to save Dyson and get his love back, and now I'm going to risk my life helping you get the most important person in our lives back. No way in hell am I back down."

Lauren smiled before she nodded. "I understand. Thank-you Kenzi. Team human?"

"Team human." There was a brief pause. "Now pull the lever Doc. I can hear the trains whistle and it's gettin' closer. " Lauren nodded as she stood. She reached over and pulled on the lever, closing her eyes.

Nothing happened.

For a few moments there was a tense silence before she heard Kenzi break it.

"What the hell…" Lauren brought her hand up to her lips to shush Kenzi. She could hear something that sounded familiar… like a ticket was being printed. Or a receipt. Sure enough a few seconds later she saw a small ticket pop out.

She quickly pulled it from the machine and turned it over as she brought it close enough for her to read.

_Please stand on the tracks. Your train shall be here momentarily. _

_We hope your sole isn't damned. _

_Good luck and please enjoy your passage to the underworld!_

Lauren blinked and stared at the little ticket. She quickly shook her head and stood up, handing the ticket to Kenzi to read for a moment before she reached out and grabbed the younger woman by the wrist as she walked over to the train tracks. She could feel Kenzi tense under her hand, before she started to struggle slightly.

Shit. She had forgotten. Kenzi's childhood. She really needed to remember that. Why? Why did she forget that? Quickly she turned around and continued to walk backwards.

"I'm sorry Kenzi. I forget sometimes." Another whistle. "But please can you stand still in shock in a little while? As soon as were on the train, I promise. But we needed to get on the tracks."

She could hear Kenzi sigh for a moment before she heard her respond. "Just remember Doc. Please." Lauren simply nodded before she started to walk towards the tracks. She could hear the whistle of the oncoming train getting closer. When she looked up towards the direction of the loud noise she did a double take.

The train that was coming at them was not a modern one, it was not the familiar grey and blue colours of VIA rail trains, or the more varied engines of the industrial trains. It was an old fashioned steam engine.

And it was approaching them rabidly.

"Kenzi!" She called, ruing the young woman to hurry up. She could see Kenzi take one look at the train and then back at her before she nodded to herself and she started to work her way up the slope that separated the junk pile and the trains tracks.

A few moments later she could see Kenzi walk towards her at first before she started to run towards her. Lauren glanced down at her watch, 8:27, three minutes until they were either spirited aboard that train, or they were killed by the oncoming train.

She knew this would turn into a suicide mission. Why did her missions always turn into suicide missions? Lauren sighed and turned to face the oncoming train, she had said at the start that she hoped this wouldn't turn into a suicide mission, but here she was.

God she was so stupid.

Why was she risking it all?

Just to rescue one person?

One person she loved. The one person who she had left in the entire world. The one that was against her, that hated her. But she was irrevocably tied to.

The person who at some point in the last year, despite everything had become _her world_. The world at large was against her.

The woman she was fighting for, the person she was trying so hard to rescue didn't even want her. But still she was trying anyways.

She laughed out loud: it sounded like a sad ironic echo to her own ears.

It took being faced down with her own death, essentially suicide, to realize that perhaps this mission was pointless.

She felt a hand wrap around her own, lifting it up slightly. She glanced over to see Kenzi with her hand in a loose grip.

No.

It wasn't pointless. This mission wasn't just for herself.

Well in a way it was.

This was her chance to prove to herself that she hadn't lost the person she had been. The person she had been before she was enslaved to the Fae. But now she was free and she was pursuing her own choices.

It was her chance to show that she was free, and to show both herself and thw world that she was still the person she had known. The person she used to be.

Well the new and improved version of herself. The self she was just now remembering.

The soldier. The scientist. The doctor. The woman. The human. The geek. The Star Trek enthusiast.

And now she had one more title that if she hadn't had in a long time, well properly in a long time.

The girlfriend.

She had a woman she was in love with. And she would do everything in her power to ensure that they had their chance. That necklace she was carrying was the promise that she

And perhaps with Kenzi in her life she had another one.

The friend.

She also wasn't only dong this for herself.

She was doing this to help Kenzi get her best friend and her sister back. To help Kenzi get the only family she had left back. Although Kenzi did have more then Bo now for family.

If she was willing to take her. Then she would also be Kenzi's family. Because in some weird way Kenzi had become hers, she had become hers a long time ago if she was completely honest.

Along with Trick, Hale, even Dyson in some odd way. Maybe even Tamsin if you really wanted to stretch it, mostly in that distant cousin who nearly stole your girlfriend way, but still a family through Bo.

They had all been pulled together by Bo.

And without her they fell apart in some ways. In most ways.

Although perhaps it was best for that. For them to learn to stand on their own again.

Lauren looked over at Kenzi and smiled at her.

The train was getting closer, it was getting closer by the second. She could feel herself starting to tense up a little. She had to fight her bodies natural urge to run, to flee and to find safety.

She glanced over at Kenzi and squeezed her hand. "We'll make it through this. And Kenz? You're not alone, you're not alone and you won't be anymore. You have Bo… and if you want me you'll also me."

Why was she telling Kenzi this? It wasn't as if she didn't mean it. She knew that with Bo came Kenzi, even if at times she wanted to kill the younger woman, even if she barely knew her, she was some weird hybrid of annoyance and little sister.

When she glanced over at Kenzi she could see that the younger woman was smiling at her slightly, a few tears gathered in her eyes. Lauren smiled a little more at her and shifted her gaze a little more to look at the train.

It couldn't have been more then 30 or 30 meters away from them now. She turned them around and pulled Kenzi close to her in some attempt to shield her from the oncoming train. She could hear the whistle again, closer this time. She could feel her body tensing bracing for the inevitable impact.

She could hear Kenzi whimper slightly and then she suddenly just as she should have felt the impact of the trains, instead she heard a rush of air, a felt something surrounding her.

* * *

And the nothing.

No sound. Not even her breath.

No talking. When she turned around attempted to call out to Kenzi, she could feel her lips moving but no sound coming out of them.

No touch. She couldn't feel her own clothes on her body. She knew they must still be there but she couldn't feel them.

No light. Even when she opened her eyes all she could see was darkness.

No wait… there. There was a point of light in the distance.

She started walking towards it, slowly picking up the pace until she was running towards it.

Suddenly she was in a room.

Suddenly she could hear, the sounds of a trains whistle, she could feel the rocking motion of the train under her. She could feel her clothes again and when she brought her arms up within her line of vision she could see that she was wearing the same outfit as earlier.

Suddenly a flash of movement appeared in the corner of her eye. She turne her head in that direction expecting to see Kenzi standing next ot her. What she saw though was completely unexpected.

In front of her was Bo.

She looked breathtaking dressed in her white dress.

But was it real?

Or a dream that her dying mind had created?

Had the train hit her?

And now she was seeing Bo? For maybe the last time?

She tried to walk forward only to find that she was being held in place by some kind of invisible thread. She could move her arms but she could not walk forward.

She tried to wave her arms, to reach out and grab Bo.

She was so close, if she could just… what on Earth?

Her hands hit a wall. They literally have hit a wall. What the hell?

Lauren pulled her hands back and then slowly she reached out to touch the air in front of her.

Sure enough her fingers came in contact with something hard, something smooth, and perhaps most chillingly something cold.

She wretched her hand back in seconds.

The cold felt familiar.

Like the dead bodies she'd had to handle when she preformed an autopsy. The things that take heat but don't radiate them back.

Where the hell was she?

Better question, what the hell had she gotten herself into this time?

Bo! She looked up again to see Bo looked around the room confused, a frown on her face.

She tried to bang on the invisible wall in front of her. She tried desperately to get Bo's attention.

She froze a few moments later when she saw a shadowy black figure enter the room. Black cloak. Wooden walking stick.

An all to familiar image.

The Wanderer.

She could not see his face. It seemed almost as if it was veiled in some kind of darkness.

She could see his hair.

An achingly familiar shade of brown.

One that she would recognize anywhere. How many nights had she spent stroking it? How many times had she held it? Run her fingers through it? How many times had she seen in fanned out across her pillows? Across her chest?

It was the same shade of brown as Bo's. She glanced between the two.

This must be the person who kidnapped Bo.

Oh how she wanted to kill the man in front of her for daring to harm the person she loved. For daring to try and for daring to erase their memories in hopes that they would never miss her.

To bad they had never counted on the humans.

To bad they had never counted on her.

There was no way in hell she was going to let this person lay one finger on Bo. There was no way in hell.

She tried to bang on the air again to get Bo's attention; she was facing away from him, her back still to the entrance of her room. God Bo… please could you just look at me honey? Please just look.

Hang on… when she took a closer look at Bo's face she could see that something was wrong with her eyes. Her skin… she could see the… oh no. Glowing blue eyes, pulsing veins.

She knew those signs anywhere. Bo's darkness was in control. Shit. Shit. Shit. Bo could usually bring herself back, but she couldn't always, shit! She needed to find a way to break this, she needed to find a way to get Bo and get away from here. To get her away from here.

She felt her hand going to her side trying to reach for her gun. But when she went to where the holster should have been strapped to her waist she couldn't find it. What the hell?

She heard a scream.

Lauren's gaze quickly started to dart around, only to realize that she was the only person who was in the cabin now. She glanced around confused. Where had Bo gone? Where had the Wanderer gone?

Suddenly she saw Bo again, collapsed at her feet, unconscious; she couldn't see the rise and fall of her chest.

Her mouth wasn't open, but no breath sounds, and her nostrils weren't flaring.

She wasn't breathing was her medical assessment.

No.

No. No.

She knelt down beside Bo and gently reached her hand out to Bo's neck searching desperately for a pulse. She couldn't feel one.

When she pulled her hands back she could see that they were shaking. She could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes.

She couldn't lose Bo.

Not here. Not to this.

Not before they'd had a chance to talk. Not before they'd had a chance to repair the damage they had both wrought to each other.

Not before she got to see Bo smile again. Not before she got to kiss Bo again.

Not before she got to tell Bo that she loved her one last time.

Please don't let the last words she said to her be:

"And I loved you."

She didn't mean them.

She never stopped loving Bo.

No. No please, no.

If there is a god then please don't take Bo away. Not here and not now.

There had to be something that she could do.

But what?

Bo's skin was ice cold.

Just like that invisible wall that she'd touched.

"I love you." She whispered as she bent down to press one last kiss to Bo's lips. "I love you more then you could possibly know. And I'm sorry. You're my world Bo. And I'm sorry."

She leaned down and pressed one last kiss to Bo's lips.

They were slack and cold against her own.

The Fates were cruel creatures weren't they. Taking away what they had just given back.

She pulled away and allowed her forehead to rest against Bo's for a moment before she felt a sob escape.

"I love you. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you." She found herself whispering.

"Lauren…" She heard a voice whisper. A very familiar voice. It sounded like Bo's… but that was impossible her body was lying in front of her…

Lauren pulled back slightly to see Bo's eyes blinking open, a look of love and fondness in them she'd never seen before. A hand came up to cup her cheek.

Lauren let out a hiccup as a fresh wave of tears started to cascade down her cheeks. "Baby…" she heard escape.

"Yeah, Lo, yeah." She leaned down and kissed Bo again. This time she felt Bo respond to her in equal fevour.

She reached out to one of the straps of the dress Bo had on, intent on pulling it down. She needed to feel Bo against her, she needed to feel that she was alive under her. She needed to know that she was alive.

A few moment later she felt Bo pull back. Lauren pulled away and began to attack Bo's neck with kisses. God she loved this woman.

She could yell at Bo for being stupid after this, she could yell at her for plenty of things later.

Right now she needed to feel Bo against her. She could hear Bo moan into her ear before she leaned over to whisper in it.

"Lauren, babe. You have to wake up. Please wake up Lauren. It's not safe to be here."

She stopped for a moment before she resumed kissing at Bo's neck, she reached out to slid one of the straps lower to give her more access.

Oh how she had missed this.

She could feel a hand coming into her hair and tugging at the back of her head, attempting to guide her back to Bo's lips. Lauren happily complied. A few seconds later she felt Bo pull away from her and press their foreheads together panting.

"Baby, you need to wake-up."

"Bo?"

"This isn't a dream Lauren, but this is and this isn't a trap. I'm really here and you're here. But really were not here. I love you Lauren, but you need to wake up! Baby wake up!"

* * *

Lauren gasped as her eyes opened. She could see Kenzi kneeling in front of her, her one hand off to the side gripping something that she could not see completely and the other she could feel on her shoulder.

"What…?" She saw Kenzi starting to shake slightly, a smile breaking out onto her face.

"Doc?" Lauren smiled weakly and brought one of her hands up to shove Kenzi weakly in the shoulder. All that earned her was a laugh and a huge smile. "Yep, you're the Doc alright. Already shoving me two minutes in."

This just caused Lauren to laugh slightly. She turned her head slightly only for her eyes to widen at what she was greeted with.

Everywhere below her was all manner of landscapes, from deserts to glaciers. It shouldn't be possible. What the hell were those doing in the same area? When she turned her head around slightly more she could see a common element, shades of red, orange and yellow, grey, black.

And it was incredibly hot.

What the hell. "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." She could hear herself uttering.

She glanced over at Kenzi who was looking around at her just as wide-eyed. "So the announcement was true."

"What?"

She could see Kenzi turning her gaze back towards her. "Welcome to Hell, Doc. Welcome to Hell."


End file.
